On Wednesday afternoon, a coalition of Ohio conservatives will flex their muscles in a show of force against President Obama’s health-care reform law. Activists opposed to a health-insurance mandate will submit nearly 550,000 signatures to Ohio’s Secretary of State in order to place a constitutional amendment – known as the Healthcare …

The New York Times reports today that some members of Congress have offered an early seal of approval to a health care administrator who could succeed Medicare/Medicaid chief Don Berwick. According to the Times, Berwick’s deputy Marliyn Tavenner has emerged as a leading candidate to fill the post before or once Berwick recess appointment …

Ezra Klein of the Washington Post has said a version of this already today, but it’s worth repeating. There is only a very, very slim chance that the individual mandate will be repealed by Congress, despite Politico’s contention that the policy might be on the ropes thanks to four Democratic senators.

It says something about the success of a misinformation campaign when it’s called out for official recognition two years in a row. Politifact, the independent fact-checking web site associated with the St. Petersburg Times, named “death panels” it’s “Lie of the Year” in 2009. This year’s winner: “government takeover of …

The accusation that the Affordable Care Act will determine which medical treatments, procedures, tests and drugs Americans will be allowed to get is false. Rather, the government will continue to decide which services Medicare will reimburse for, while also deciding what care private insurers …

Robert Pear of the New York Times today picks up an unsurprising, but important, new study showing that the recession has caused Americans to cut back on medical care far more than in countries with universal health care.

This is to be expected. In tough economic times, even health care costs are considered discretionary for …

Kevin Sack has an illuminating piece in the New York Times on the conundrum that politicians – especially Republicans and Blue Dog Democrats – face while trying to balance a fiercely partisan political climate against the woes of a sagging economy. Case in point: Medicaid, one of the most expensive programs in every state in the …

The first draft of history is always going to be controversial, especially when it’s on something as touchy as health care reform – monstrous legislation the full effects of which we will not know for years to come. So it should probably come as no surprise that Jonathan Alter’s take on Barack Obama’s first year in the White …

As Adam notes, incumbents should take Rep. Allan Mollohan’s loss of his primary as a shot across the bow but there are 13 members it should terrify. Mollohan was one of the 14 Democrats who voted for Bart Stupak’s amendment in November and for health care reform on final passage. Republicans are targeting this group, accusing them of …